Contributed by Penobscot Marine Museum
Description
The Queen Anne structure built in 1892 for the Maine Central Railroad was the second railroad station at Brooks. Passenger rail service first came to Brooks on November 1, 1870. Regular service ran from Belfast to Burnham. The railroad carried 17,244 passengers in 1874.
In 1916 the train brought to this station the Honorable Warren G. Harding, then U.S. Senator, who was the only U.S. President ever to come to Brooks. Trains made two round trips daily, carrying passengers, freight and mail. Between 1921 and 1925 an average of 60 tons of potatoes a year shipped from Brooks by railroad. Circus animals arrived by train at the station.
This station was across the road from the original Brooks station, which had been moved and was occupied by the the A.C. Chase Company store. The building to the left of the station was the Yankee Blade Company, which published a newspaper. Depot Square, as the area was known, was the busiest place in town.
Linwood Moody, well known historian and author, was Station Agent in the 1950s and 1960s. Point to point passenger service ended March 9, 1960 on the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad, which until 1925 operated under lease by Maine Central.
In 2010 the Brooks Preservation Society owned the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The organization leases the railroad from the Maine Department of Transportation. As of 2022, the station was the base of operations for the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railway, which runs excursion trains.
About This Item
- Title: Railroad station, Brooks, ca. 1910
- Creator: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Creation Date: circa 1910
- Subject Date: circa 1910
- Location: Brooks, Waldo County, ME
- Media: Glass Plate Negative
- Dimensions: 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm
- Local Code: LB2007.1.112581
- Collection: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Object Type: Image
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For more information about this item, contact:
Penobscot Marine MuseumPO Box 498, 5 Church Street, Searsport, ME 04974
(207) 548-2529
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This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
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